Someone pointed me to a good book on this topic called "Scarcity" written jointly by an economist and a psychologist. It looks at what happens to our minds when

Someone pointed me to a good book on this topic called "Scarcity" written jointly by an economist and a psychologist. It looks at what happens to our minds when we're in a "scarcity mindset" -- basically, we have tunnel vision, lose attention span, self-control, and the ability to plan long-term. Your mind is compromised, and that's a cause of perpetual poverty (i.e., if any of us suddenly became poor, we'd start behaving predictably like those who are low income do). Along those lines, they suggest a few types of things startups (or anyone) could do to reduce mental stress for people. For example, adult continuing education classes where it's ok to slip up or learn on your own schedule (thanks to technology). Or savings products for young people that start before they are desperate and living in a world of scarcity (and prevent them from going to a payday lender one day). Or a service that gets patients to take their meds without having to think (I think at least one startup is already attacking this). For things that require behavioral change (like making on-time mortgage payments, or saving money), maybe social pressure can be used in productive ways....like it is in microfinance groups in the developing world (small groups borrow collectively and group members encourage one another to repay). Anyway, just a few ideas...this is a great topic.